76 CanadianJournal of Counselling/ Revue Canadienne de Counselling 1986, Vol. 20:1 Dr. Wetzel's prime intention was to produce a practical, comprehensive reference text for consultation; an adjunct to a positive therapeutic relation-ship. The information on each approach is quite brief and provides an overview of concepts rather than specific techniques. This overview is supplemented at the end of each chapter with references for more in-depth knowledge.
The author states that empirical validation of various therapeutic approaches remains elusive. As a result, there is little direction regarding accountability or success of any approach. Choice of approach is left to the reader, though it is my opinion that the bias is toward Dr. Wetzel's own synergistic approach.
A second intent was to provide an understanding of the various conceptual approaches to depression and to offer a synthesis of these different approaches drawn from the author's background as a social worker and educator. The author does offer an interdisciplinary perspective concerning depression and makes an attempt to retain the language indigenous to each discipline.
One unique contribution is the emphasis on at-risk populations, particularly the extensive references to women—addressing societal values, traditional approaches dealing with depression among women, and offering a selection of less conventional methods of prevention/intervention within each theory.
I found the information on the various approaches in dealing with depression to be clear though briefly outlined. In my opinion, this book is suitable as a general text on depression, particularly for student counsellors.
Hopkins, B. R., & Anderson, B. S. (1985). The counselor and the law (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: A A C D Press. 135 p.
Reviewed by: Larry Eberlein, University of Alberta
Lawyers love footnotes! The 1975 edition of this book had liberal amounts of embedded documentation; the 1985 edition extends the concept to about 40
pages of footnotes and adds 30 pages of appendices for good measure. The result is a useful reference book written for two audiences—the lay reader (who can ignore the footnotes) and those who want to further explore the legal concepts presented.
In general, the body of the book is deceptively easy to read and may bring fear to the heart of the novice counsellor. Rather than fear of the law, however, counsellors should learn to respect the law and understand and appreciate its rationale. The liability sections, such as those dealing with malpractice or criminal activity, alert counsellors to real, potential problems with their behaviour in a counselling relationship. While the probability of a counsellor becoming legally liable when only involved in a "talking therapy" is small, specific behaviours are problematic. Counsellors have been known, for example, to provide contraceptive and other medication to clients, be involved in physical searches of students, and be an indirect part of student criminal activity. This book points out the ramifications of these behaviours.
Difficult legal concepts are simplified to make a point and then described in detail in footnotes (written in the nature of a legal brief). Besides citing the details of relevant and recent cases, the authors use another technique to good
CanadianJoiirnal of Counselling/ Revue Canadienne de Counselling 1986, Vol. 20:1 77 advantage: they construct a hypothetical counselling situation paralleling a case already decided. Although these "cases" stretch credulity a bit, they do illustrate the potential legal problems counsellors will face.
Written primarily for 125,000 professional counsellors, the general legal principles apply as well to other helping professionals. Since no Canadian province and only eleven American states license or regulate "counsellors," the main differences with these other professionals lie in the extensive statutory controls which affect the practice of psychologists, medical doctors, and psychi-atrists, and to a lesser extent social workers, especially in the area of confiden-tiality and privileged communication. This topic is covered in chapter two. Chapters three and four detail well the personal liability of a counsellor. Unfortunately this strong case for careful attention to the law is weakened by a new chapter on a private practice. Although a useful addition, it reads like a textbook or income tax manual. A careless reading could also lead one to think that by setting up a corporation, a counsellor could avoid all personal liability. Such is far from the case. Counsellors cannot hide behind the corporate veil for their own personal behaviour in treating individuals. Corporations do not counsel or run groups—individuals do!
The appendices contain the text of the A A C D Code of Ethics, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, and the final regulations under the A c t — a l l good reference material.
All in all, a useful book that should be required reading for teachers as well as counsellors and other professionals.
